BUSINESS BRIEFS
Teamsters, Gas Co. settle contract
Advertiser Staff and News Services
More than 200 unionized workers and The Gas Co. have reached an agreement on a new five-year contract that calls for wage increases of nearly 18 percent and increased health benefits.
Members of the Hawai'i Teamsters & Allied Workers Local 996 ratified the contract yesterday. The contract covers workers on O'ahu, Kaua'i, Maui, Moloka'i, Lana'i and the Big Island.
In addition to the wage increases, the contract includes company-sponsored health and welfare benefits for the life of the agreement. Under the old contract, which expired on April 30, workers were required to pay a portion of the monthly premiums when a specific cap was exceeded.
Both sides said they were pleased with the contract.
"Current economic trends and the rising cost of healthcare were very much on (the workers') minds," said Ron Kozuma, Local 996 president. "The union and the employee negotiating committee worked very hard to get what some of our members at The Gas Co. are calling the best contract they've ever had."
Jeffrey Kissel, The Gas Co. president and chief executive officer, also praised the agreement.
HAWAIIAN AIR TOP ON-TIME CARRIER
Hawaiian Airlines was the nation's top on-time airline in March, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The state's largest carrier led all 19 domestic carriers that file reports with the DOT with an on-time record of 94.5 percent.
Hawaiian also had the best record for baggage service and was second behind JetBlue Airways for fewest oversales.
DVD FLICK TO START FILMING ON O'AHU
Filming is set to start Monday on "The Reef," a direct-to-DVD action feature that will be set and filmed on O'ahu.
The film stars Chris Carmack and Laura Vandervoort as a couple with a local dive shop and David Anders as the bad guy who hires them for an underwater job, said Sara Berrisford, an executive producer on the project.
"It's a young couple living in Hawai'i," Berrisford said. "They have this little slice of paradise. Another couple comes to Hawai'i and hires them to look for what they think is an old Filipino sunken treasure. Then they discover it is something more sinister."
The film, directed by Stephen Herek, will be shot largely off the Leeward coast, and several of the actors were certified as divers to complete the underwater filming, Berrisford said.
Filming is expected to last until the first week of June.
MGM and Brookwell McNamara Entertainment are producing "The Reef," which could be released a year from now.
Carmack, Vandervoort and Anders have done most of their acting in TV dramas. Herek is perhaps best known for his big screen films "Mr. Holland's Opus," "101 Dalmatians" and "Rock Star."
ISLAND AIR'S MAINLAND SERVICE OK'D
The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded Island Air a two-year contract to provide service on the Mainland.
The essential service contract, worth several million dollars, will connect Kansas City International Airport to Joplin, Mo., Grand Island, Neb., and Harrison and Hot Springs, Ark.
Island Air said it expects to begin flying its deHavilland Dash-8 aircraft on the new routes in the next 90 to 120 days.
The Dash-8 includes a two-by-two seating arrangement, stand-up cabin, overhead bins, lavatory and flight attendant.
Tentatively, one-way flights to Kansas City International will cost $59 with a seven-day advance purchase, according to the Grand Island Independent newspaper.
